


the spirit of flip cup

by connorswhisk



Series: omgcp friendship week 2020 [3]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Gen, prompt: kegster, team manager to team manager energy, wlw icon to wlw icon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:46:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26481370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/connorswhisk/pseuds/connorswhisk
Summary: Lardo was the best team manager the Samwell Men’s Hockey Team ever had.At least, that’s what Shitty says, but Shitty is totally biased.
Series: omgcp friendship week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1922701
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	the spirit of flip cup

Lardo was the best team manager the Samwell Men’s Hockey Team ever had.

At least, that’s what Shitty says, but Shitty is totally biased.

She’d be lying if she said she didn’t miss it. Managing the team was probably the most fun she’s ever had in her life. She made so many life-long friends (and enemies) over the course of her four years at Samwell that she’s likely never to forget them (and she hopes she never will).

(Except for maybe the LAX bros. She could do with forgetting the LAX bros.)

_(_ Fuck _the LAX bros.)_

Haus 2.0 is ‘swawesome, there’s no denying that. Lardo thought she’d have to ditch her friends after college, do the whole long-distance thing that never really seems to work out for anyone, but instead she gets to keep living in the same house as Ransom and Holster and Shitty, and it’s great. She shares a room with Shitty, they keep bets on when Rans and Holtz will suck it up and move back in with each other, and they all avoid their other roommate, the mysterious, terrifying, inscrutable _Her._

Not that Lardo’s scared of her. She totally isn’t. No way.

Lardo’s happy. But despite everything she has, she wishes she were still managing the team. Bitty’s captain this year, and Lardo would fucking _love_ to see Bitty be in charge of the team, and she misses Ollie and Wicks, and she misses the Frogs, and she never got to know the Tadpoles _that_ well, and she doesn’t even know the Waffles (as Bitty has dubbed them), and she misses Faber, and tub juice, and Coach Hall and Coach Murray, and _ok, yeah, maybe she even misses the LAX bros._

Lardo’s happy. It’s just a lot to let go of.

And maybe she’s a little resentful of Ford, just a little bit. Like, Ford is really cool, and Lardo wouldn’t have chosen anyone else out of the candidates for the new team manager, because there wasn’t anyone _better_ to choose from. Ford has all the makings of a managerial type, and Lardo is one hundred percent certain that she’s doing a great job.

Lardo’s just jealous. She hates to admit it (and she knows Shitty would chirp her for it), but Ford is her _replacement._ She’s taking over where Lardo left off, and by the time Ford’s a senior, no one on the team will even _remember_ Lardo.

It’s a little sad to think about, actually.

“All right, where the _fuck_ is the _tub_ _juice?!?!_ ” Shitty screams, and Lardo elbows him in the side. They’re at a Kegster, not the first Kegster, but a Kegster, because Jack’s in town and it’s a clear Saturday night. Lardo’s still got some shit to work on at home, but it’s worth it to blow it off for a little bit and come here. She’s missed the Haus. She’s missed it a lot.

“Come on, dude,” she says. “You really think they know how to make TJ without us?”

“I tutored Ollie and Wicks well,” Shitty argues.

“Right,” Lardo says, smirking. “But will theirs be as good as ours?”

Shitty grins back at her. “Probably not.”

“Yo, _dudes,_ ” Holster interrupts. “Who _cares_ who makes it? Tub juice is tub juice.”

Lardo shakes her head. “Unbelievable.”

Shitty holds up a hand. “I can’t even look at you right now, Birkholtz. _Tub juice is tub juice._ ”

Holster blinks. “Does it not all taste the same?”

“Bro, really?” Ransom says, laughing. “ _No,_ bro.”

Lardo and Shitty leave a confused-looking Holster and a giggling Ransom in their wake and head off in search of alcohol. They only make it a couple of steps toward the kitchen before Shitty spots Jack and Bitty leaning up against the wall, shouts, “ _Zimmermann!_ ” and plows over to him. Lardo starts to follow, wondering how many fines she can cash in on Jack and Bitty in just one night, when someone says, “Hey, Lardo!”

She turns. It’s Ford, smiling and holding a solo cup in her hand.

“Oh.” Lardo raises her hand in a little wave. “‘Sup, Foxtrot.”

“Not much,” Ford says. “How are you?”

“I’m good, I’m good,” Lardo replies. “Um…How’s school?”

Ford nods enthusiastically. “It’s great, yeah! I’m ASM on _Chess_ right now, though, so that’s kind of a shitshow.”

Lardo hums. “Yeah, no kidding. Theatre kids, am I right?”

Ford rolls her eyes. “You have no _idea._ ” She frowns. “Hey, did you want a drink?”

Lardo glances over at the wall. Shitty is in the middle of some animated story, and Jack and Bitty are listening and smiling, Bitty resting his head on Jack’s shoulder. _Fine,_ Lardo thinks, and wants to go over and yell it in their faces, but also realizes that would be kind of rude to Ford.

“Yeah,” she says. “I could definitely use a drink.”

One cup of tub juice later, Lardo’s standing in the kitchen with Ford as she goes on about assistant stage managing.

“ - and then Lisa almost forgot her quick change, so _that_ was messy, and it’s just,” She pauses to take a sip of her drink. “It’s just a _lot,_ you know? That, plus classes and the team…I guess you could say that my plate's kinda full.”

“Yeah,” Lardo says, chuckling. “I remember how it was. I had a lot of art shows, especially during my last two years, and that got pretty stressful at times. I still had fun with it, though.” She raises an eyebrow at Ford. “You _are_ having fun with it, right?”

Ford nods. “Oh my god, yeah! No question. It can get sort of hectic, but I’m _so glad_ I’m managing the team, I really am. I’m _terrible_ at skating, but it’s fun to tell people what to do.”

Lardo grins. “Bitty haze you?”

Ford smiles. “Like crazy.”

Lardo opens her mouth to say something else, probably to ask Ford who she thinks will be good for the captaincy next year, but Holster yells, “ _Flip cuuuuuuuuup!_ ” and Lardo’s ears prick up like a bloodhound’s.

“Wanna play?” she asks. “I bet we could _crush_ Ransom and Holster.”

Ford shrugs. “Why not?”

When they get to the table, Ransom smirks. “You’re going down, Lards.”

Lardo raises her eyebrows, but before she can say anything, Ford goes, “Are you kidding me? You’ve seen her play, right? There’s no _way_ you’re going to beat us.”

Lardo grins proudly. “Yeah, Ransom. _No way._ ”

“All right, who else is in?” Holster asks, and soon enough, Nursey and Louis, one of the Waffles, join Lardo and Ford's team, and Tango and a green-haired girl from the rugby team join the others.

See, here’s how Lardo wins at flip cup: She’s a _really_ fast chugger. Not to brag or anything, but she can probably chug better than anyone else at Samwell, and that’s not even an exaggeration. But her weak spot is that she’s not the best flipper - she’s not _bad,_ but sometimes it takes her a couple of tries, and that can slow her down.

Ford, on the other hand, is an absolutely _‘swawesome_ flipper. She’s sort of a slower drinker, but she doesn’t miss a single cup-flip, and that combined with Lardo’s chugging gets them through their drinks pretty quickly. It’s mostly them doing the work, since Nursey is a little too shit-faced to focus properly (whoever’s on Patrol tonight must be neglecting their duties. Unless it’s Louis, in which case, _whoops_ ) and Louis seems to be pretty new at flip cup in general.

“ _Get fucked!_ ” Lardo yells, landing her last cup at about the same time that Ford gets hers.

Holster comes out of a chug messily and groans, beer dripping down his chin. “Aw, fuckin’ _unfair._ ”

Lardo gives him an honorary victory belch. Holster wrinkles his nose.

“I told you,” Ford is saying to Ransom, her speech slightly slurred. “Lardo never loses.”

“Ugh.” Ransom shakes his head. “Did Lardo pass on some sort of secret flip cup gift that only team managers can use?”

Ford just grins, showing all her teeth.

“Hey, Ford?” Lardo says, body humming with energy, her head feeling light. “You’re pretty cool.”

Ford smiles drunkenly. “Hey, _thanks._ You too.”

And that’s when Lardo decides to stop being jealous of shit she can’t control. There's really no such _thing_ as the Best Team Manager. Ford is the coolest, and she isn’t _replacing_ Lardo, she’s just _carrying on._ She’s Lardo’s legacy, in a way, and Lardo will be damned if she lets that legacy fail.

It looks like Ford mostly has it down, though.


End file.
